Mizo National Front

Mizo National Front
Mizo National Front
Leader Pu Laldenga
Founded 1961
Headquarters Aizawl, Mizoram
Newspaper Hruaitu Arsi
Youth wing Mizo National Youth Front
Women's wing Mizo National Women Front
Ideology Populism
Mizo Nationalism
Social liberalism
Democratic socialism
Social democracy
Christianity[1]
Third Way
Social Populism
Political position Conservative
Official colours Blue
ECI Status Regional Party
Seats in Lok Sabha
1 / 545
Seats in Rajya Sabha
1 / 250
Election symbol
Star
Politics of India
Political parties
Elections

Mizo National Front (MNF) is a regional political party in Mizoram, India. MNF emerged out of the Mizo National Famine Front, which was formed by Pu Laldenga to protest against the inaction of the Indian central government towards the famine situation in the Mizo areas of the Assam state in 1959. It staged a major uprising in 1966, followed by years of underground activities. In 1986, it signed the Mizo Accord with the Government of India, renouncing secession and violence. MNF suffered a strong incumbency wave in the 2008 Mizoram Election and lost all their MLA seats except three.

Contents

Origin

In 1959, Mizo Hills was devastated by a great famine known in Mizo history as 'Mautam' . The cause of the famine was attributed to flowering of bamboos which consequently resulted in rat population boom in large numbers. After eating up bamboos seeds, the rats turned towards crops and infested the huts and houses and became a plaque to the Villages. The havoc created by the rats was terrible and very little of the grain was harvested. For sustenance, many Mizos had to collect roots and leaves from the jungles while a considerable number died of starvation. Earlier in 1955, Mizo Cultural Society was formed and Laldenga was its Secretary. In March 1960, the name of the Mizo Cultural Society was changed to 'Mautam front'. During the famine of 1959-1960, this society took lead in demanding relief and managed to attract the attention of all sections of the people. In September 1960, the Society adopted the name Mizo National Famine Front (MNFF). The MNFF gained considerable popularity as a large number of Mizo Youth assisted in transporting rice and other essential commodities to interior villages.

Underground movement

The Mizo National Famine Front, which was originally formed to help ease the immense sufferings of the people during the severe Mautam Famine in Mizoram, was converted into Mizo National Front (MNF) on October 22, 1961. The ways in which the authority of the day handled the famine left the people disillusioned. The wave of secessionist and armed insurrection was running high among the Mizos. In 1966, MNF led a major uprising against the government, but failed to gain administrative control of the Mizo district. The secessionist movement held on for about two decades. During that time, they invaded Burma claiming chin state and Tahan belong to Mizoram since most of the resident in Tahan are Mizo.

Peace settlement

This chapter of insurgency finally came to a close with the signing of the Mizoram Peace Accord on June 30, 1986 between the underground government of the Mizo National Front and the Government of India. Under the terms of the peace accord, Mizoram was granted statehood in February 1987. Laldenga became Chief Minister, but soon lost power due to defections in the party.

Political party

Former guerrilla leader Pu Zoramthanga became party leader following the death of Laldenga in 1990. In 1998 and 2003 MNF won the state assembly elections, and Pu Zoramthanga was chief minister for 10 years. In the 2003 elections MNF won 21 out of 40 seats in the state assembly, and got 132 505 votes (31,66%). MNF was part of the National Democratic Alliance, but later withdrew in 2007[2]. Officers as of 2007 were: President: Pu Zoramthanga Vice President: Pu Tawnluia Treasurer: Pu Tlanghmingthanga

The MNF suffered a heavy defeat in the 2008 state assembly elections, winning only 3 of the 40 seats, and the Indian National Congress swept to power.

MNF's role in the parliament

In the 2004 Lok Sabha elections MNF won the only seat of Mizoram. The MNF candidate Pu Vanlalzawma got 182 864 votes (52,46%). MNF abstained in the vote of confidence on 22 July 2008 to maintain distance from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and United Progressive Alliance.[citation needed]

References

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Mizo National Front — Die Mizo National Front (MNF) ist eine am 22. September 1961 gegründete Regionalpartei im indischen Bundesstaat Mizoram. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Geschichte und Ursachen 2 Bewaffneter Kampf 3 Politische Partei …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Mizo National Front (Democratic) — was a regional political party in Mizoram, India. MNF(D) was formed when the Mizo National Front split on August 30, 1988. Nine of the 25 MNF Members of the Legislative Assembly of Mizoram left the party and formed MNF(D). On January 26, 1989… …   Wikipedia

  • March 1966 Mizo National Front uprising — Part of Insurgency in Northeast India Map of Mizoram state (formerly Mizo district) …   Wikipedia

  • National Front — The name National Front is used by a number of political parties and coalitions. Albania National Front (Albania) Belarus Partyja BPF Belgium National Front (Belgium) Botswana Botswana National Front Burma Chin National Front Chad National Front… …   Wikipedia

  • National Front (India) — The National Front (Rashtriya Morcha) was a coalition of political parties, led by the Janata Dal, which formed India s government between 1989 and 1990 under the leadership of N. T. Rama Rao as President and V. P. Singh as Convener. The… …   Wikipedia

  • Mizo People's Conference (Progressive) — Mizo People s Conference (Progressive), a political party in the Indian state of Mizoram. MPC(P) was formed on December 19, 2003 as a split from the Mizo People s Conference. The party was led by member of the Mizoram assembly F. Lalthanzuala. On …   Wikipedia

  • Mizo people — This article is about the Mizo people. For the language of the same name, see Mizo language. Mizo Total population c. 1,000,000 Regions with significant populations Northeast India, Bangladesh, Burma Languages Mizo Ţawng …   Wikipedia

  • National Democratic Alliance (India) — NDA redirects here. For other uses, see NDA (disambiguation). Republic of India Part of the series Politics and Government of India …   Wikipedia

  • Mizo accord — The Mizo Accord was signed between the Mizo National Front and the Government of India in 1986. The MNF agreed to work within the Indian Constitution and to renounce violence.External links* [http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/india/states/mi… …   Wikipedia

  • Mizo Accord — The Mizoram Accord was signed between the Mizo National Front and the Government of India on June 30 1986. The MNF was a secessionist movement to protest against the negligence and indifference of the Government of India to the people of Mizoram… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”